Electronic transmutation: Boron acquiring an extra electron becomes 'carbon'

We propose a concept of electronic transmutation. According to this concept, elements, by acquiring an extra electron, begin to have the chemical bonding and geometric structure properties of compounds composed of neighboring elements. We demonstrate that boron, by acquiring an extra electron in boron-hydrogen compounds, forms molecular analogs of those of saturated hydrocarbons. We show by the means of quantum chemistry that the Li2B2H6 molecule in the most stable geometric form has the B2H62+ kernel, which is isostructural to the C2H6 ethane molecule. We believe that this concept may have a significant effect on predicting new chemical compounds. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.